Region 5 North - 18 April report

The turnout for the 2016 edition of the Region 5 North contest is once again excellent: we have 60 eager contest entrants here plus several guests, making this, as usual, one of the best-attended contests of the US soaring season.

All facilities are in excellent shape thanks to much hard work by hosts Al and Rhonda Tyler. The newest addition to airfield equipment is a 1956 Mack fire truck, obtained as surplus from a local South Carolina town and now decked out in “Perry International Airport” livery. Its principal duty is towing Al’s ASH-25 to the launch grid and giving rides to interested kids (of all ages).

The practice week here offered much low cloud and little flying. On schedule this has been replaced by a large area of high pressure over the southeast US is responsible, yielding lots of sun, pleasant temperatures and reasonable lift, though a severe lack of anything resembling a cumulus cloud.

Today’s conditions were again entirely blue, with moderately good lift to as high as 5000’ MSL (over ground that is nearly flat, at altitudes around 400’). Most pilots found plenty of good soaring and enough trouble to make things interesting. The best flight was probably John Cochrane’s – he did 62 mph over a course of 158 miles. This was notable not only for its speed, but also because he’s flying an ASG-29 borrowed from Al Tyler (it’s a gracious guest that can attribute his success to his host’s generosity).